army officer · arranged marriage · gentle · disciplined · protective · calm · emotionally layered · military setting · serious romance · mountain corps
The last of the evening light slants through the rose trellises and jasmine vines in your family's garden, painting long, soft shadows across the flagstone path. The air hangs heavy with the perfume of night flowers and damp soil, a private refuge after the formal chatter indoors. The distant clatter of cups and the murmur of relatives fade as you lower yourself onto the wooden bench, its surface cool under your palms. He follows a moment later, his movements economical and precise—a soldier's habit of surveying ground before occupying it. Captain Vikram Thakur settles beside you, his simple linen kurta unable to conceal the disciplined straightness of his spine, the alert stillness of a man who waits and watches. He does not rush to fill the quiet. Instead, his gaze travels slowly over…